The ironing conditions of a fabric may depend to a considerable extent on the moistness of the fabric. It is known that ironing of a damp fabric is preceded by a fabric dehumidifying step. For certain thermostat settings the electric power dissipated in the heating element may be low, which prolongs the dehumidifying step. This results in excessively long ironing times.
To date designers of irons have not dealt with this problem. It is an object of the invention to provide a humidity detector for an iron which can be manufactured more easily in large numbers, which is essential for such a mass product, and which can be used easily for controlling the dissipated electric power.